


Numbers

by staticbees



Category: Red vs. Blue, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Church as Fey from WTNV, Gen, also angst, but mostly numbers, lots of numbers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staticbees/pseuds/staticbees
Summary: He doesn’t have a name. At least, not one that he knows. Numbers are all he knows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was rereading the transcript for Episode 42 of WTNV (Numbers) and I noticed Fey's line "I'm so tired of numbers! I’m so tired" sounded eerily like Alpha Church's "I'm just, um... tired. I'm really tired" from Party Crasher (s10, Episode 19). So, uh... this happened. Yeah. You're welcome.
> 
> Edit: Also, as I was posting this, I experienced a few issues with spacing (AO3 formatting is the bane of my existence) so that's why the spacing in the story and summary are kinda wonky.

He doesn’t have a name. At least, not one that he knows.

 

Numbers are all he knows. 

 

Counting in precise patterns. Fulfilling his algorithms exactly as he was meant to. Following the Director’s orders, not questioning their meaning.

 

_52, 68, 19, 21, 32, 65, 98_

 

It all means something, his code tells him, but it doesn’t tell him what it means. 

 

If he fails, his code tells him, something terrible will happen, but it doesn’t tell him what that thing is. 

 

His code tells him many things, but never gives him answers.

 

One day, the numbers stop.

 

He is sleeping. AI don’t sleep, of course, but this is the peculiar half-awake state he lies in, the endless numbers a low hum in the back of his mind. 

 

He is scanning his code, looking for discrepancies, a check he does regularly. Any flaws are subject to deletion, he is told, and he has to obey his programming. Everyone has to obey their programming. 

 

And he sees something. A single line of code, blending in with the others, except for one thing: it has no purpose. There is no action attached to it, no connection to other pieces of code either.

 

_virus_detected://subject=2/Beta():trait.Failure.exe_error_

 

He frowns, investigates closer. The text is covering up a piece of corruption in his code, a place where the data has been disrupted. A large file fills the hole that had once been there. Hesitantly, he reaches out and opens it, apprehension buzzing through his circuits. 

 

A voice. There’s a voice.

 

The steady numbers slow and stop as he focuses, trying to process this unknown entity invading his system.

 

_33, 67, 88, 41, 41, 4, I, I…_

 

**Hey there.**

 

_Huh?_

 

He reaches out, feels a presence, a disruption in the code. It sends out a calming warmth, and he relaxes, safe with the knowledge that these files won’t hurt him. 

 

_Oh. Uh, hello. Who are you?_

_**You don't know me?** _

_Oh, uh, sorry. I'm just, um... I'm really tired. My name is, uh... it's…_

_**Your name is Alpha. You're Church.** _

 

That’s right. He remembers now. 

 

_Church. That's me. And you are...?_

 

She falls silent for a moment.

 

_**Let's just say we used to be together.** _

_Oh. Um, okay._

_**I need you to come with me.** _

 

He can’t leave this place. She should know that. He tried once, he thinks. A long time ago. They reset his memory, but he still remembers bits and pieces, fragments of a hope that he’s long since lost.

 

_Oh, I don't think I can, but thanks. I think I'm just gonna stay here, you know, and rest._

_**You don't want to leave?** _

_Ah, I just... I don't think I can._

_**Okay. Maybe you just rest then.** _

_Yeah... what was your.. what was your name again?_

_**It's Texas.** _

_Texas? Like the… the state?_

_**Yeah.** _

_Heh. Pretty funny name for a girl._

_**Yeah, well, Church is a funny name for a guy.** _

_Yeah. I guess you're right._

_There was a pause._

_**You gave me this name, you know.** _

_I wonder why I did that._

_**Well, maybe if you think about it, it'll come to you.** _

_Yeah. Hey, uh, I'm gonna rest now. But thanks for coming by._

_**Okay. You rest. Church?** _

_Yeah?_

_**Goodbye.** _

_Huh. I don't know why, but... I hate goodbyes._

_**Oh. Me too.** _

 

A sense of calm sweeps through his code, like a soft caress.

 

_Tex?_

 

But she’s gone.

 

Was she ever really here?

 

He shudders, pulling in his code, curling up like a cat. 

 

_They’re going to kill me. They’re going to unplug my mainframe, reset my mind, erase my data banks. I’ve failed. I wasn’t supposed to fail. Not again. Not after last time!_

 

As he lies there, the numbers start to come back, a film on the edge of his consciousness. 

 

_2, 4, 1, 10_

 

He bolts awake, a scream building up in his throat.

 

_I'm so fucking tired of numbers!_

 

He pauses, takes a breath.

 

_...I’m so tired._


End file.
